BW_ACTIVATE_CHAIN

Use the BW_ACTIVATE_CHAIN script element to start a process chain, monitor its processing, and store the logs in the activation report. You can specify various start conditions. If the process chain does not start immediately — for example, because it waits for an event or a scheduled time — those conditions are logged. Once the process chain starts, it is monitored until it ends. You can also store individual process logs or background job logs, and trigger repeated restart attempts if the process chain is interrupted.

Transaction: RSA1

Syntax

BW_ACTIVATE_CHAIN ID=...[,NOFOUND=...][,ERROR=...][,PROCESSLOGS=...][,RESTART=...][,JOBLOGS=...][,LONGTEXT=...][,REPLICATE=...][,STATUSRETRY=...][,SCHEDULE=...][,SYNCHRONOUS=...][,GET_SPOOL=...][,COLLECTLOGS=...]

Parameters

Parameter Description Format Allowed Values Default Value
ID= Technical name of the process chain Script literal n.a. n.a.
NOFOUND=
(Optional)		 Handling if the process chain cannot be found Script literal
  • NORMAL — The script continues; the AE job ends normally
  • ABEND — The script aborts; the AE job ends abnormally
 NORMAL
ERROR=
(Optional)		 Handling if the process chain ends abnormally. This parameter is useful for restarting process chains or their child processes; the job does not end, so processing in a parent object such as a workflow can continue. Script literal
  • ABEND — The script aborts; the AE job ends abnormally
  • IGNORE — The script continues; the AE job ends normally
  • SUSPEND — The job remains active until the process chain or its child processes have been successfully restarted, or until the job is canceled manually
 ABEND
PROCESSLOGS=
(Optional)		 Controls output of the individual process logs of the process chain Script literal
  • YES — Individual process logs are added to the process chain log
  • NO — Only the process chain log is output
  • ERROR — Individual process logs are output only when an error occurs
 YES
RESTART=
(Optional)		 Number of attempts to continue an interrupted process chain Integer n.a. 0
JOBLOGS=
(Optional)		 Controls output of the process logs of background jobs Script literal
  • YES — Process logs of background jobs are output
  • NO — Process logs of background jobs are not output
  • ERROR — Process logs of background jobs are output only when an error occurs
 YES
LONGTEXT=
(Optional)		 Controls output of the long text (diagnostics text) of log messages Script literal
  • ERROR — The long text is output only when an error occurs
  • YES — The long text is always output
  • NO — The long text is never output
 ERROR
REPLICATE=
(Optional)		 Controls replication of child processes of the process chain in the AE system Script literal
  • NO — No replication takes place
  • YES — Replicates child processes in the AE system; children are displayed in the Process Monitoring perspective and statistical records and reports are generated
  • ALL — Replicates all child processes, including skipped ones; children are shown in the Process Monitoring perspective and statistical records and reports are generated
 NO
STATUSRETRY=
(Optional)		 Number of repeated status checks before Automation Engine is informed that a process has ended. Due to a specific SAP behavior, process chains can briefly show the status "ended" and then continue. Use this parameter to avoid the agent reporting the end of the process chain prematurely. Number n.a. 0
SCHEDULE=
(Optional)		 Controls whether the process chain is rescheduled before activation. Setting this to NO accelerates the start of the process chain. Script literal
  • YES — The process chain is rescheduled
  • NO — No rescheduling takes place
 YES
SYNCHRONOUS=
(Optional)		 Controls whether the process chain is executed synchronously to start processing immediately Script literal
  • NO — No synchronous execution
  • YES — The process chain is executed synchronously
 NO
GET_SPOOL=
(Optional)		 Controls whether the spool list of the started job is requested. When YES, the spool list is stored as a text file in the directory defined by the Download_dir= parameter ([GLOBAL] section) of the SAP Agent INI file. The filename is structured as follows: <SAP job count>_<step number>_<spool number>.txt. The file is also registered as job output in the AE job. For more information, see Agent SAP and Registered Job Output. Script literal
  • NO — The spool list is not requested
  • YES — The spool list is requested
 NO
COLLECTLOGS=
(Optional)		 Controls whether reports of activated child processes are written to the job report. By default, reports of replicated child processes are available in both the job report and the child process task. Use NO to avoid storing this information twice. n.a.
  • YES — Child process logs are written to the job report
  • NO — Child process logs are not written to the job report
 YES

Important Considerations

The reports of child processes are not available if you specify NO for both the REPLICATE and COLLECTLOGS parameters.

Status Check

The Automation Engine expects a final technical status when the agent verifies the process chain status. The Interface Repository defines the TECHSTATUS parameter as always containing one of the following values:

  • G — Green (request handling successful)

  • Y — Yellow (request is being processed)

  • R — Red (request incorrect or canceled)

These are not final states; a status can change to red briefly and then return to yellow or green. AE accounts for this. You can configure a time delay for status checks to verify n times whether a red status actually persists. The SAP Agent INI file contains the maxruntime= and repeat_check= parameters in its [SAP_BW] section for this purpose.

A separate function checks the states of process chains and returns the following values:

  • R — Cancel

  • G — Normal end

  • F — Normal end

  • A — Continue checking

  • X — Cancel

  • P — Continue checking

  • S — Cancel after the process chain has been restarted

  • Q — Continue checking

  • Y — Continue checking

  • " " — Continue checking

The AE system converts these states into the following return codes:

Return Value Condition
0 Status: ENDED_OK — SAP status: G or F
4 Status: ENDED_NOT_OK — SAP status: R
8 Status: ENDED_NOT_OK — SAP status: X
12 Status: ENDED_NOT_OK — SAP status: S

Examples

The following example activates a process chain whose parameters were queried from the user. The query results are assigned to the script element as script variables.

: BEGINREAD

: READ &CHAIN#, "ZTEST,ZSBB1,ZSBB2", 'Process chain', 'ZTEST',M

: READ &ERROR#, "IGNORE,ABEND", 'ERROR=', 'ABEND'

: READ &NOFOUND#, "NORMAL,ABEND", 'NOFOUND=', 'NORMAL'

: READ &LT#, "YES,NO,ERROR", 'LONGTEXT=', 'YES'

: ENDREAD

BW_ACTIVATE_CHAIN ID='&CHAIN#',ERROR='&ERROR#',NOFOUND='&NOFOUND#',LONGTEXT='&LT#'